This invention relates to electromechanical keyboards of the type used in a wide variety of applications.
Many electromechanical keyboard designs are known which are used to provide electrical signals indicating the actuation of one of a plurality of switches. In many applications, the increasing trend is toward simplicity of design and low cost, particularly in consumer oriented electronic devices, such as video games. Thus, the evolution of electromechanical keyboard designs has progressed from switch assemblies having individual key top, electromechanical switch and return spring components, through designs employing individual dome switches fabricated from a suitable material (such as beryllium copper), to assemblies incorporating a laminated sandwich in which the switching elements comprise conductive layers separated by an insulating layer, and associated switch actuation elements, typically projections suspended above the sandwich and designed to squeeze the sandwich against a flat supporting base.